US also has a lot more assets though and is an already developed economy. China’s economy will inevitably slow and for an emerging market, their debt is significant. Also, this is only local Chinese debt and not even the full picture for that. According to nationaldebtclocks, China govt debt is $5.2 trillion on paper but they suggest multiplying by at least 3.25 to account for shadow banking not on the official ledgers and local govt debt the article was talking about.
The US has a debt problem but it is nothing compared to what the article is speaking of. The US has tons of assets, a low tax rate (which could be raised in the event of a debt problem) and a pretty resilient and diverse economy. China is not a diverse economy and have tons of black pools of debt.